Welcome to our News & Events section. Here you will find the latest company news and details of forthcoming events orgainsed or attended by Complete Tree Care, including our highly successful 'Careers in Arboriculture' presentations. This site is updated regularly - so please check back regularly to make sure you're informed!
New BS Standard for Tree Inspection
As you may be aware the Bristish Standards institute is currently preparing a new standard for Tree Safety Inspection (BS8516). A draft has been available for comment on the AA web site. The position of both the AA and the ISA is that the new standard should not be progressed further until the National Tree Safety Council has had the opportunity to complete its its investigation into the issue of tree safety and determine whether or not a British Standard is required. The new standdard is therefore likely to be put on hold for the time being.
ISA Seminars and Training Courses
The ISA recently annnounced two one day events which are open to both members and non-members. On the 7th of October 08 they are running the very popular Pests and Diseases of Amenity Trees workshop at Harcourt Arboretum near Oxford. Speakers David Rose and Nigel Straw of Forest Research will be discussing the latest threats to UK trees including oak die back and oak processionary moth. On the 5th of February 08 they are organising a one day seminar on Veteran Trees at Windsor Great Park. Speakers for this event inlude Dr David Lonsdale, Ted Green, Marcus Bellett-Travers and Keith Alexander.
Is the Job Market hardening?
With falling house and equities very much in the news as a result of the credit crunch many people will be wondering what the worsening economic conditions are going to mean for you when looking for work. And yet, in each of the past few months, figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown the jobs market remains in rude health - by pretty much whatever measure you use, it is at its strongest for decades.
However, According to George Buckley, of Deutsche Bank, there are already signs the market is turning. The fall in unemployment benefit claims has come to a halt in recent months, and he suspects it is only a matter of time before overall unemployment increases. He calculates that if Britain grows by the 1.6pc forecast by the International Monetary Fund this year and next, this will cause a 150,000 rise in the unemployment total.
Certainly at Complete Tree Care we would concur with this opinion, since we have already noticed that there has been a marked reduction in the number of vacancies registered for climbers and ground staff in the last month with contractors whose client market is largely the private sector. Our clients are informing us that the number of enquiries they are receiving for tree work from domestic and construction clients has reduced by up to 80%. Consequently they are not looking to employ additional staff or even replace some of those that are leaving. The exception to this has been in London, the Home Counties and Scotland where we are told many clients still have healthy order books and a number of vacancies have been registered.
Those employers who generate their business from the public sector; for example local authorities and their term contractors and Regional Electricity Companies (now DNOs) and utility contractors have a more secure source of revenue and are still recruiting actively. More encouraging still has been the market for technical staff, such as consultants, tree inspectors and tree officers which still appears to be strong. Again a proportion of this market is driven by the public sector who is still struggling to recruit ideal candidates.
So if you are graduating this summer you should be aware that although the employment market is not as buoyant as in previous years, there are still plenty of jobs out there. The key to success is often flexibility - be willing to move to the area where the job is and accept that you may need to focus on employers working for/in the public sector. Of course another option may be to remain at college or university for another year to gain a higher level qualification. Given the increasing demand for technical staff this may be another way to improve your employability. Finally for those wanting a climber of grounds man position make sure you secure those vital NPTC CS units before leaving.
ollowing our announcement that Forestry and British Timber had ceased publication along with its subsidiary Essential Arb, I am please to anonounce that there have been some new developments. Forestry Journal who had aquired the titles have now decided to relaunch Esential Arb and produce it on a quarterly basis from June. The next copy will be available in time for the AA Trade Fair and all ISA members will be receiving a free copy as part of their membership package.
Essential Arb to be re-launched
Following our announcement that Forestry and British Timber had ceased publication along with its subsidiary Essential Arb in Januray this year, I am please to anonounce that there have been some new developments. Forestry Journal who had aquired the titles have now decided to relaunch Esential Arb and produce it on a quarterly basis from June. The next copy will be available in time for the AA Trade Fair and all ISA members will be receiving a free copy as part of their memebership package.
Last chance for great discounts?
If you are a student about to complete your studies this may be the last opportunity you have to take out student membership of our trade bodies or of any industry publications. This may not be you first thought at this time, but it may be too good an offer to refuse.
The International Society of Arborist (ISA) can offer students membership until December for just £25. - this is the full international package which normally costs £125! For this you will receive a large number of trade publications, access to discounted training and events, including the renowned Tree Climbing Competitions.
The Arboricultural Association can offer student membership at £25 and this reduces to just £12.50 after 30th June! This entitles you to their Newsletter and the Arboricultural Journal, plus discounts from various suppliers.
Horticulture Week offers student subscription at £27.60 per year for 52 copies as compared to £92.00. The magazine is generic to horticulture but includes many articles on arboriculture and a good range of jobs listed in the back pages.
Forest Journal is a monthly publication covering both Arb and Forestry. The student membership is £30 per annum, but it also includes three to four copies of Essential Arb.
End of an era?
Although not officially announced to the industry we have recently been informed of the loss of two well known trade publications - Forestry and British Timber (F&BT) and Essential Arb.
The publications had been on sale for some time, but were only recently aquired by new owners Forestry Journal, previously known as Forest Machinery Journal. The editor of Forestry Journal, Mark Andrew explained that the newly named publication would feature much of the content of Essential Arb within the Arb and Amenity Matters section. In fact many of the contributers would be retained, and because Forestry Journal was a monthly publication the total content over a year would be similar to the quarterly publications.
The ISA board of directors are currently negotiating with Forestry Journal to establish whether an arrangement can be made to provide ISA members with the new magazine on a quarterly basis in place of Essential Arb. An announcement will be made on the web site in due course.
Careers Advice
Did you know that candidates who are registered with Complete Tree Care are eligible for our free careers advice leaflets. To receive any of the titles listed below please contact us using this form quoting the title you are interested in. Alternatively if you would prefer simply call our office on 01694 720022 and one of our industry experts would be happy to talk to you.
Applying for Jobs: Creating a CV,Working with your recruitment consultant,
Interviews: Researching jobs, Handling an interview
If you are offered a job: Getting the right salary, Accepting a job offer, Starting a new job
ISA AGM
The ISA AGM will be held at Capel Manor's Celebration of Trees on April 25-26th 2008. It will be a two day event over a Friday and a Saturday and will include a trade show with a wide range of exhibitors and demonstrations. Entrance to this and the ISA AGM on Friday evening is free. In addition there will be a number of seminar's and training courses run at heavily discounted rates. For more infromation please visit the ISA web site at www.isa-arboriculture.org or contact Jean at the chapter office on 0121 556 8302.
Job Details
We are now able to provide further information on all new Vacancies advertised on our web site. Simply click on the Job Title which links to the relevant details. It also shows whether a full Job Description is available - these can be sent out to any registered candidates.
Glendale buys Silvanus Parkwood Holdings the parent company of Glendale has recently purchased DPL Holdings whose subsidaries include Silvanus Services and Landscapes South West. As many will be aware Silvanus was a major arboricultural and green services contractor with a turnover of c.£5M, operating mainly in the South West.
The cost of the aquisition
Complete Tree Care is re-branded!
To celebrate six years as the leading recruitment company in arboriculture we have a new logo and a new web site. The logo has been designed to reflect our committment to recruitment as our core business activity and the web site is intended to make these services more accessable to both clients and candidates. New features include an interactive map for categorising vacanices by area, the ability to subscribe to regular Job Alerts and free pdfs providing Careers and Employment advice.
ISA re-Launch!
Complete Tree Care is pleased to be a member of both the ISA and AA and feel that the development of both organisations will be to the benefit of arboriculture in the UK as a whole. Consequently we are pleased to announce that the ISA is to re-launch its UK and Ireland chapter. With the aim of increasing membership the chapter is offering reduced joining and annual subscription fees - whilst improving the benefits on offer. These now include 12 industry specific trade journals per annum, reduced attendance costs to a range of seminars and training events, a membership card that gives substantial discounts with a number of arb suppliers and even a free gift!! All this for just £85 per annum or even £25 for a student.The chapter has also undergone a re-branding exercise resulting in a fresh new image and a state of the art web site to show case all that is has to offer. There is even an e-commerce functionality so that it is possible to order books and merchandise on line or join the chapter.It is even intended to have past copies of TreeLine the organisation's in house publication available as pdfs
Increase in Annual Leave Entitlement
The Department of Trade and Industry has announced that it will be increasing the minimum holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 from 20 days to 28 days per annum. The change will be staged; rising from 20 days to 24 days on 1 October 2007 and from 24 days to 28 days on 1 October 2008. In effect the change means that workers will be entitled to 20 days holiday plus the 8 bank and public holidays, currently the statutory entitlement of 20 days includes bank and public holidays.
New Application Procedure
In accordance with new government regulations we are now required, if possible, to obtain greater details about our candidates qualifications and experience. To comply with this requirement our Application Form now includes a third page on which candidates can enter the names of two referees and complete a mandate to enable us to verify NPTC certification. It is hoped this will help us to match candidates even more accurately with vacancies and clients.
New Recruitment Database
We are pleased to announce the installation of Voyager Recruitment software at Complete Tree Care's Head Office. This software shall enable us to match candidates with clients much more efficiently and quickly, ensuring greater customer satisfaction all round. It will also allow us to mailshot or send SMS messages to candidates to notify them of new vacancies as they arise so that no one misses out on the best jobs. One other change to the system is the use of computer generated reference numbers for jobs on our Vacancy List - however, we will continue to preface them with CG(climber/groundstaff), C(Consultant) or M(Manager).
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